Laureola volamuca Zong, Wang, Jiang & Li 2026, sp. nov.

Laureola volamuca Zong, Wang, Jiang & Li sp. nov. Type materials. Holotype • ♂, China, Hainan Province, Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County, Limu Mountain National Forest Park (19.2876 ° N, 109.7992 ° E), 1350 m, 6 November 2023, Yutao Wang leg., prep. slide nos. L 23107, L 24054 – L 24055. Paratypes: 26 ♂♂, 13 ♀♀, same data as holotype. Diagnosis. Cephalon with frontal shield gently arched medially; pereopod 7 bearing a triangular process at distal tip of basis on sternal face; telson with a round distal tip. Description. External morphology of adult (Fig. 1). Maximum body length 3.5 mm in males, 3.8 mm in females. Body elliptic, unable to roll up into endoantennal conglobation. Dorsal surface yellowish brown, with extensive yellowish-white areas on pereonites 3, 4, and 7. Dorsum bearing long spines arranged as follows: cephalon with 4 + 1; pereonite 1 with 2 + 7; pereonites 2–6 each with 7; pereonite 7 with 4; pleonites 3–5 and telson each with single median spine. Cephalon (Figs 1 A – C, 2 A – F). Frontal shield not protruding above vertex, gently arched medially. Eye composed of 10–12 ommatidia. Antennule with three articles, distal article with eight to ten superimposed aesthetascs near apex. Antenna bearing long spine at distal apex of fifth peduncular article; flagellum with second article (including apical organ) approximately eight times as long as first article, apical organ thin and long. Left mandible with three-toothed incisor, five penicils between hairy lobe and molar process; right mandible with two-toothed incisor, four penicils between hairy lobe and molar process. Maxillule with two unequal penicils on distal margin of inner lobe; outer lobe with eight apical teeth of various sizes. Maxilla bilobate apically, inner lobe smaller and bearing more setae than outer lobe. Maxilliped endite rectangular, apex with three setae; palp three-articled, basal article with two small setae, medial article with one large seta at inner distal angle of distal margin, distal article densely covered with hairy setae. Pereon (Figs 1 A-C, 2 G, H). Pereonite 1 with bluntly round epimera; pereonites 2-7 with pointed epimera. Ventral lobes present on pereonites 1–3. Pereopods without apparent sexual specializations; pereopod 1 basis thin and long, ischium concave on rostral face; pereopod 7 basis bearing small triangular process distally on sternal face, ischium concave on rostral face. Pleon (Fig. 1). Pleonites 3–5 with elongate, spine-shaped epimera. Telson broad basally, narrowed towards middle, distal half elliptic. Uropod protopod nearly triangular; exopod inserted near medial margin, approximately one-third length of protopod, not extending to its apex. Male pleopods (Fig. 2 I-M). Pleopod 1 exopod small, twice as wide as long, distal part round; endopod with broad basal portion, tapering to pointed tip, apical portion directed outwards. Pleopod 2 exopod broad in basal one-third, distal two-thirds thin and long, outer margin strongly concave; endopod thin and long, surpassing exopod. Pleopods 3-4 exopods subtriangular, outer margin concave. Pleopod 5 exopod subquadrangular, outer margin nearly straight. Etymology. The specific name is from the Latin “ vola ” (meaning “ fly ”) and “ mucus ” (meaning “nasal mucus”), referring to the species’ distinctive jumping locomotion, reminiscent of flying nasal mucus. We suggest the Chinese common name as “鼻屎精灵刺卷虫”. Distribution. China (Hainan). Natural history. This species was collected in the ecotone between coniferous and broad-leaved forests. It forages diurnally on stones covered with algae and moss. At night, it seeks shelter under the webs of jumping spiders and also forages on remnants of prey left within these webs. The species exhibits a characteristic jumping escape response when disturbed (see Suppl. material 1: videos 1, 2). Remarks. The new species is similar to Laureola leucocephala Li & Wang, 2022, but it can be distinguished by the following characters: cephalon with frontal shield not protruding above the vertex and is gently arched medially; the basis of pereopod 7 bears a triangular process distally on the sternal face; the telson has a rounded distal tip; and the uropod exopod does not reach the tip of the protopod. In L. leucocephala, the frontal shield distinctly protrudes above the vertex and bears a broad median triangular process; the basis of pereopod 7 lacks any projection; the telson tapers to a pointed distal tip; and the uropod exopod exceeds the tip of the protopod. Key to the species of the genus Laureola Barnard, 1960